This postcard came with no date and only description: ‘cashmerian dancers’.
Cashmerian Dancers, 1926
Bath-Houses along Vitasta
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| John Burke, 1868-69 |
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| By Geoffroy Millias. from ‘Irene Petrie : Missionary to Kashmir’ (1903). |
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| At Shah Hamadan By Brian Brake, 1957 |
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| by Douglas Waugh (late 1950s, early 1960s) |
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| From the book “Tikkus’ tourist & shopping guide of Kashmir covering Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh ” (1970) by Bharat Tikku. |
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| 2008 |
“In the upper part of the city the banks are lined with houseboats in which the visitors live. But lower down these banks, which are sometimes twenty and thirty feet high, have a very interesting and varied life at the water’s edge, where you find laundrymen and laundrywomen at intervals all the way along, and bathers, sometimes composed of groups of men, others of groups of women, and again men and women together. As a rule this bathing takes place at the foot of some of the wide stone steps that lead up from the water to the upper level of the bank, and frequently in the vicinity of a temple or mosque. There are also a number of small bath-houses, without roofs, and divided into very tiny little cabinets that are hardly large enough for a single person. These are indulged in by the more fortunate, or the better-to- do classes, who constitute but a very small percentage of the total bathing population.
This bathing, too, is a very interesting process to witness, especially the dressing, for, while the men are rather indifferent as to how much or how little clothing they may have on, the women are exceedingly modest and rarely, if ever, is there the least exposure of any portion of the body besides the arms, and head and feet. They go into the river with one dress on and when they have bathed they have not only washed their bodies but the garments they have been wearing, and when they come out they have on the bank, or steps, another garment which they put on, and so skillful are they in making this change that it is almost impossible to tell how it is done. One moment they are clad in the wet, clinging clothes which they have worn in the river, and the next by a rapid sleight- of-hand transformation they are dressed in dry garments of most pleasing hue.”
~ ‘Our summer in the vale of Kashmir’ (1915) by Frederick Ward Denys
Kashmir on Bollywood Walls
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Manchali (1973)
In the background: view of Kashmir
Hera Pheri (1976)
In the background: Char Chinari
Can’t be sure but both look like works of D.N. Walli.
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Previously:
Wall from Junglee (1961)
Tourist Guide, 1960
Video: A travel guide for Kashmir published in September 1960 by Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity,, Ministry of I&B., for the Deptt. Tourism, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Printed in Bombay.
Audio: Kashmiri music from film ‘Magic of the Mountains’ (1955) by Mushir Ahmed for Film Division. The first song is the famous lament of Habba Khatoon (16th century).
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SearchKashmir Free Books Project
Over the years, like a famished beast, I have devoured books listed at archive.org. The Kashmir image archive was built primarily out of material from there. But often, while searching for some subject, I ran into books that were still not digitalised or not publicly available outside of foreign libraries. So, not too often, I ending up buying a rare book. Now, I want to give a little back to the project.
The idea is simple. Every month I will be uploading one rare and out-of-print book about Kashmir to archive.org, so that others can read it for free.
January: A test run. Something that I had shared previously via images only. With archive.org, now the book is also available in easy to search text format
February: A book by Pandit Anand Koul that provides interesting information of industries of the state.
- Geography Of The Jammu And Kashmir State (1925) by Anand Koul
March: After ‘Beyond the Pir Panjal life and missionary enterprise in Kashmir’ by Ernest F. Neve (1914, first published in 1912, here) went out of print, in 1931 he came up with a small concise and updated version in 1931 and titled it ‘Things Seen in Kashmir’.
Things Seen in Kashmir (1931) by Ernest F. Neve
A book shared by reader from his personal collection. Now complied and uploaded to the archive.[Details] Probable date mid-1960s.
April: A photo book published by Publication Division in November 1956. This is the second edition that came out in May 1962.
Kashmir, 1956
May: An anthology of photographs, verse, and description, mainly of India including Kashmir, Delhi and now Af-Pak region published by a British soldier towards the end of World War 2. [Details]
Of Hills (1944) by Tom Ashley Lakeman
June: A travel guide by a former student of Biscoe.[Details]
Holidaying and Trekking in Kashmir (1969) by N. L. Bakaya
July: A School report for C.M.S. School from year 1926 [Details]
Lake and River Scouts in Kashmir
August: A rare trekking guide written by a woman and meant for women. [Details]
Trekking in Kashmir, with a family, or without one” (1930) by Barbara Earl.
September: A school booklet from year 1944 published by Church Mission School, Srinagar.
October: A book on first Kashmir war of 1947-48
November: A travelogue by a British woman about her visit to Ladakh in 1926
December: A book on farmers of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh
Farmers Of Jammu, Kashmir And Ladakh (1959)
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The Illustrated Kashmir, 1945
From personal collection
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| Kashmir cover of ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’, April 22, 1945 Photograph by A. K. Syed This is from a time when painting over the photographs was the norm. |
Bandobast Sahib’s Nightmare
Kashmir was my paradise, for the work was a constant pleasure. But in a way it unfitted me for the life outside paradise, and though I have had the happiest chances and the most delightful experiences since I left the happy valley, I always compare my life now with my life then, and nothing has rivalled Kashmir. When the Kashmiris weave their lovely carpets they always leave one thing undone, for their religion teaches them that nothing done by man must be perfect. I finished my work in the valley, but there was a tract of beautiful country not belonging to the State which I had promised to “settle,” and when the end came I left this unsettled. And now year by year I have a vivid dream that the boat is ready and that all my plans are made. I have chosen my best men for this last piece of work, have sent on my tents and supplies, and am going to make no mistake this time, and the map and the settlement of the land shall be perfect. But I always wake before my boatmen shout “Yo pir” and make the boat tremble with the strong stroke of the heart-shaped paddles, and I know that if the boat ever does start, it is “finis,” or as the Moslems write on their tombs, “Khatm“.
~ ‘The India We Served’ (1928), Walter Rooper Lawrence.
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By a singular coincidence, this chance halting-place under the chinars of Panzin, brought me also across the foot-prints of another man whose name is engraved upon the history of Kashmir. For as the evening grew the Village Headman came and sat by the brook, and conversed about his fields.
“Sir,” he said, “since Laren we have had great peace. He came walking along this very road on his way to Wangat, and I stood before him, thus, with folded hands, and said :
‘”Huzoor, here is great zulm; yon field is mine, but another from the next village, who has friends at court, has stolen it from me.’
“And Laren said, ‘What is your name ? ‘ and I said Sobhana, the son of Futto and he put it down in his note book ; and then he said:
“‘What is the name of your field ? ‘”
“and I laughed and said, ‘ Huzoor, they call my field Bamjoo.'”
“And he put that also in his book, but said no more and took his way ; and lo ! in the fullness of days when the Settlement was accomplished, my field was given back to me, and Justice was done.”
” And who was Laren ? ” I enquired —
” Laren,” he replied, ” was the great Sahib who made the Settlement ; the friend of all Zemindars. Since his time a deep confidence has settled upon our hearts. It was he who said ‘ O Wise Ones do not part with your lands for they will one day become gold.’
~ The Charm of Kashmir’ (1920) by V.C. Scott O’connor
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“I saw the Mullah step with great dignity into the ferry boat: I saw the boatman prostrate himself, as had the crowd bowed down as he passed along. He was a man of about fifty, clad in white, and when we met by my tent I noticed that, though his face was austere and ascetic, his eyes had a twinkle in them. We sat down for some time in absolute silence, and without any order on my part everyone went to a respectful distance. Then he spoke in good clear Hindustani. He had heard from his people of my work, and though I and my officials through our ignorance had made many mistakes, and though at first he had thought we should fail, he now had some hope that we should succeed. He had been told of my collision with Colonel Natha, and that I had vowed that if he remained in the State service I would resign. He was pleased that I had kept my vow, and it was for this that he and his people trusted me. “But,” he added, “you must be careful. Careful of the hate of the city and the officials, and careful not to free my people too quickly. They are under the curse and are well called the worshippers of oppression. For if they become absolutely free and careless of their rulers, they will be lazy and improvident. And one other matter you have taken on yourself affairs that do not belong to you.”
~ ‘The India We Served’ (1928), Walter Rooper Lawrence, the Land settlement officer in Kashmir from 1889 to 1895.
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Map of Jammu and Kashmir State, 1925
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| Map of Jammu and Kashmir State from ‘Geography of The Jammu and Kashmir State’ (1925) by Pandit Anand Koul [scanned and uploaded here] -0- |
‘River valleys in Kashmir’ (1890) by Frederick William John Shore
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‘River valleys in Kashmir’ (1890) by Frederick William John Shore, 4th Baron Teignmouth (British, 1844-1916).
via: bonhams
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Panoramic Painting of Dal, 19th century
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| The Dal Lake, Srinagar. Watercolour, English School, (late 19th century) . Via bonhams. |
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Previously:
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